Road-sails



F. E. WEED 89-12, ME'SS INGE R. DEVICE FOR CLAMPIIT G THE BOLTS 0NFISH-PLATES RAIL-=- V ROAD-RAILS. v 193,388. Patented July 24, 18.77.

2 tnesses: W 234 N. PETERS, Pnomuiuogumaz, wAsnmei'on, 11c.

UNITED. 'r'rns FRANCIS E. WEED AND REINHOLD MESSINGER, OF NEW CANAAN,CONN.

IMPROVEMENT IN DEVICES FOR CLAMPING THE BOLTS 0N FISH-PLATES 0FRAILROAD-RAILS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. 193,3S@, dated July24, 1877; application filed J une 7,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANCIS E. WEED and REINHOLD MESSINGER, both of NewCanaan, county of Fairfield, and State of Connecticut, have invented anew and Improved Device for Clamping Bolts on Fish-Plates, of which thefollowing is a specification Figure 1 is a top view of our improvedboltclamping attachment; Fig. 2, a side view, partly in section, of thesame; Fig. 3, a crosssection of the same on the line 0 c, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

This invention relates to a new means for clamping the bolts which areused for attaching fish-plates to railroad-rails, so that such bolts maybe permanently and securely held while the nuts are being applied tothem. Heretofore it was necessarythat, whenever a nut was to be appliedto a bolt, one end of the bolt be held secure by one person, whileanother person applied the nut to the other end; but by our inventionthe bolt will be properly held secure without requiring the aid of anadditional attendant.

Our invention consists, principally, in the combination of a hook, whichis adapted to catch over the railroad-rail, with'a lever pivoted to thehook, and provided with a cam projection and a locking attachment,whereby said lever can be crowded against the plate, all as hereinafterdescribed.

The invention also consists in making said lever adjustable between twosuch hooks, as hereinafter more fully pointed out.

In the accompanying drawing, the letters A and B represent thecontiguous ends of two railroad -rails. C is the fish-plate by which thetwo rails are to beheld together. D and E are the two bolts, which,passing through the fish-plate and rails, serve to properly connectthese pieces. There are, usually, four such bolts applied to everyfish-plate; but our invention is applicable to every style and kind offish plate and bolt.

In the form in which we have represented ourinvention, the same isshown'to be provided with or constructed of two books, G G, which areadapted and shaped to fit over the treading portion of the rails, in themanner indicated in Fig. 3, and which are united at their lower parts bya rod or bar, H. This rod or of the bolts 1) E, and to thus hold suchbolt tight while the nut b is being applied to its other'end, all asclearly indicated in Fig. 3.

V The distance between the two books G G- should be such as to enablethe lever I to be moved into line with all the bolts of one fish- 'platewithout disturbing the hooks G G during the fastening of one plate; butthe invention, as far as the locking-lever J is concerned, is alsoapplicable and eminently useful if the lever is not made to slide atall, and, in fact, two hooks, G G, are not necessary, as the inventionwill be very efficient if the lever I is pivoted directly to one suchhook, although it is preferable to have the two books, as, in'that case,their upper parts will not in the least interfere with the applicationof the nuts. If but one hook is used, such single hook would have to bebrought nearly into line with the bolt to be fastened, and may,therefore, render the application of the nut less convenient. I

An additional feature of the improvement consists in the use of alocking-lever, J, which is pivoted to the lever I by a pin, 01, andwhich, when thrown against the rail, as in Fig. 3, will serve to lockthe lever against the head of the bolt, and to consequently render theassistance of .any one for holding the lever I in place absolutelyunnecessary.

We claim as our invention 1. The combination of the two hooks G G andthe connecting bar or rod H with the lever I, which is capable ofvibrating and sliding on said rod or bar H, substantially as specified.v

2. The combination of the hook G and pivoted cam-lever I with thelocking-lever J, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

FRANCIS E. WEED. REIN HOLD M ESSIN GER.

Witnesses:

LUorUs M. MONROE, JOHN OSTRANDER.

